This is beyond cool! Very expensive too, but I though you might enjoy seeing what seems to be the cutting edge of guitar technology. The video is just over 10 minutes, at about 2 minutes he shows the amazing features. It’s Swiss made, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s like the Swiss Army knife of guitars.
2 Likes
I’ve always wondered why more guitars are not like this. It seems really strange to me that basic guitar design hasn’t changed in 60 years. But then I realized there’s a really good reason for it, and it kind of sucks, but I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon.
-
95% of people who buy a new guitar will never play more than a few chords. These are people that will never even understand what the pickup switch does, let alone switching out pickups.
-
80% of the people who make it past phase one don’t want to fuss with things. They want to buy gear that makes their guitar sound better. Whether it be pedals or amps or whatever, they would rather buy something that sounds good out of the box than tinker with things.
That leaves a very small portion of the market that actually wants to mess with stuff like this. Which means you have to have a small company making it, which unfortunately, means that it will cost quite a bit. I wish more of this stuff was standard, but I don’t think it ever will be.
2 Likes
Right, there’s almost a nostalgia to a guitar, that’s “same as it ever was” to quote David Byrne. There have been some experiments and modifications in some ways - the Gibson “robot” self-tuning guitar seemed like the wave of the future, but failed miserably - but other than having lots more manufacturers and models to choose from, the hardware remains pretty consistent.
That guitar in the video is MSRP $3800 I believe, so out of the price range of many. I’d certainly say it’s designed for serious guitar geeks with cash to burn. It’s possible that some of those innovations might eventually make it to the general market, but only time will tell.
I would like to think so, but I’m pretty skeptical. Nothing in that guitar is new technology. Magnets have been around forever. There’s nothing in that guitar that couldn’t have been produced 50 years ago. People have been improving on the design of guitars for a very long time and almost none of those design improvements have caught on. Gibson finally tried to do something new and it almost buried them alive.
1 Like
I’ve always liked the idea of having rear-loading quick-swap pickups. That would be cool. Breaking out the soldering iron seems so dark-ages. 
1 Like
Have to agree, it seems nice, but at that price tag it would only be purchased by someone who likes to tinker rather than play a nice guitar.
With all the software and sims available you really can get just about anything you want out of a good $500 guitar. If you are spending more than $1000 on a guitar you should really, really like the feel and sound of it, and not need to screw with it at all.
I own a PRS SE, and it plays very, very well.
$3800 is enough for a real PRS, a real Les Paul, 2 real Strats, etc. etc., and I wouldn’t screw with anything on any of those.
I love what they’re doing, but it needs to sell for $1000 with 2 extra sets of pickups and lasers coming out of it for me to be interested beyond trying to figure out why they made it in the first place.
1 Like
Yes, I’m seeing it as a possible introduction of innovations to the industry, that may catch on in future years. Coming from a small company and in limited quantities impacts the cost, but if some of these features get into more of the mainstream the cost would come down IMO. Things like Floyd Rose tremolo, the JEM guitar style, active pickups, etc … all these things started off small and probably more expensive at first, and then economies of scale make them more affordable and closer to what is considered mainstream rather than boutique.
I think there’s an element of “tweakhead” fascination in the Swiss Army guitar. 
That may be who it is appealing to in terms of marketing.